Public or Private School & Urban, Suburban, or Rural?

[marsdaddy]

I think this might only be relevant to us Americans.

So, did you go to public or private schools? Do you live in an urban, suburban, or rural area?

If you have kids, are you sending to public or private and why?

We're looking at public schools in San Francisco, CA -- very urban. It's a tough decision and I actually got a little choked up thinking about sending my oldest to Kindergarten later this year -- 8 months from now?!

[cookiepuss]

Hi my name is cookiepuss and I'm a recovering Catholic School Girl.

[beastiegirrl101]

you know what they say about catholic school girls....;)

I was in private schools my whole life...even college.

[venusvenus123]

i went to a private school, because i grew up outside england. i send my son to a private school, but that is mainly because the "public" schools in our area are pretty dire... plus my mother in law pays the fees: family tradition:cool:

[synch]

Catholic School Girls... In TROUBLE!

Always lived "downtown".

I don't think you can compare the school systems properly.

[synch]

i went to a private school, because i grew up outside england. i send my son to a private school, but that is mainly because the "public" schools in our area are pretty dire... plus my mother in law pays the fees: family tradition:cool:
You might just be a mother in law some day though :D

[venusvenus123]

You might just be a mother in law some day though :D
haha yeah. by that time, i hope i can afford to keep up the tradition!:D

[synch]

Start saving ;)

[beastiegirrl101]

because the "public" schools in our area are pretty dire... :

agreed. I was born and raised in the city so ....the public schools were not an option unless I wanted to get beat into a gang.

[jabumbo]

pittsburgh public schools

[ms.peachy]

Suburban public. I can't complain, I got a good education. We'll have to see where in the world we are at when it comes time for Mattie to start school. North London is kind of hit or miss as far as the local 'state' schools go.

[Rock]

agreed. I was born and raised in the city so ....the public schools were not an option unless I wanted to get beat into a gang.
you could have always gotten sexed in...but you wouldn't have been as respected.

I went to a public school in the suburbs my whole life. As did most of my friends. We turned out alright. Then again, back then we supposedly were in one of the top 3 or so public school districts in the country. So that may have had something to do with it.

My wife went to a catholic school for high school and I don't see a difference.

Doesn't it look better on college applications if you attend a private school though?

[ScarySquirrel]

I can't select the complete option choice! Damn you for making this a radio button selection and not those check boxes!

Public school. Rural area. My hometown has one working stoplight and one blinking one. We think we're special.

[ericlee]

Hi my name is cookiepuss and I'm a recovering Catholic School Girl.

In the class she's taking notes
Just how deep deep is my throat
Mother Mary don't you know
She's got eyes like Marylin Monroe

Catholic school girls rule...

From the cross she's raised her head
This is what the sister said
Give no love until you're wed
Live no life until you're dead

The good books says we must suppress
The good books says we must confess
But who cares what the good books says
Cause now she's taking off her dress

Catholic school girls rule...

Lead us into temptation
We are pure divine creation
Talkin' about my generation
Injected with the seed of emaculation
Catholic !

[cookiepuss]

hee hee. but seriously, I can't complain about the education I received under catholic repression. My freshman year in college was a total breeze. while all the public school kids were like "um, how do i write a paper....um what is Buddhism?" I was aces in dat shit.

until I got to be a sophmore and wanted to party my ass off instead of being in honors.:( so that's were the repression bit me in the ass. but uh...I had fun!

[Pres Zount]

How do I vote for two things at once?!


I'm not yank, but I grew up in catholic schooling and on a farm, I'm semi-pleased with my (young) education.

Children need to be oppressed.

[marsdaddy]

Sorry, I didn't learn about creating a poll in my urban, public schooling.

I like the dialogue, though. I didn't realize the UK had the public vs. private issues we have here. San Francisco public schools are notorious for urban blight. It's really weird that there will be a school very well though of, with high achievement scores, and literally 5 blocks away will be a school, where 5 year olds daily risk life and limb, with lower test scores.

We visited a school yesterday where it seemed they were aiming too low -- "we teach reading, writing, and arithmetic." Today, it was a bit touchy feely -- "studying a culture's art teaches us what's in the heart." Funnily enough, the first school -- focused on test scores -- scores much lower than the second -- focused on art.

[marsdaddy]

Children need to be oppressed.And you're a fine example of that!

[na§tee]

i went to about 10 british forces "state" primary schools in germany. the normal ones, i dunno. except.. they're in germany and you move every 9 months or something! WOOOH!

i didn't suffer for it intellectually. well, at least my first class m.a tells me so :cool: i did suffer emotionally, i guess. i developed quit a disabling stutter. i hatedhatedhated going to a new school and having to tell the whole class what my name was! claire was so hard to pronounce :(

i did all my secondary education on lewis though in a place which sounds fee-paying but is of course state (wtf would a posh school be on a hebridean island anyhoo? actually, that sounds like a place paul mcartney's kids woulda gone..) called the nicolson institute. it was called the nicolson institution but parents back in the day said it sounded sorta, um, asylum-ish.

[Pres Zount]

EDIT: Not a very nice thing to say. DELETED.

Sorry. :( I never had a stutter at school, just mumbling and saying "uuuuuhhhhhhhh......." alot.

[na§tee]

hahaha!

no, i don't have a stutter anymore. well, i have a minor sort of nervous struggling with certain words. i have to spit it out, if you can understand what i mean.

it wasn't as bad as you're probably imagining. i wasn't like michael palin in a fish called wanda or anything. but that woulda been sorta cool. maybe. maybe not.

EDIT: i saw it LOL SUCKAH!

[Helvete]

Well, I can't vote for both, but I went to a public in a rural-ish area. Our school had a farm and shit. It was a pretty good school and people came from miles away just to go to this one school because it was the best free one in the county. And people now ask me if I went to a private school because of my accent. But yeah, schools are important.

[Helvete]

hahaha!
no, i don't have a stutter anymore. well, i have a minor sort of nervous struggling with certain words. i have to spit it out, if you can understand what i mean.


We had a girl in our class called K-k-k-k-k-katie. Yeah, we were mean.

[Randetica]

i went to 3 public schools and a private one

the private one had a swimming pool, best years of my life (y)

[ggirlballa]

i have gone to public schools in urban areas all my life & it was cool especially elementary, but i started getting exposed to drugs & gangs (never took or joined any!) by the time i went to a public middle school & the high school i'm most likely going to has a ton of drug dealers & gang bangers

[Knuckles]

Good Parenting is far more important to a kid's academic success than which school you'll send him to.

absolutely (y)

[TurdBerglar]

i live in the hood but when to a public school system out of town in this little posh town full of the most stereotypical white people i have ever met. funny how much people can differ from only being 20 minutes apart. it was a culture shock. ironic being that im white myself.

[ggirlballa]

funny how much people can differ from only being 20 minutes apart.

so true

[Dorothy Wood]

preschool-half of 2nd: upper middle class suburban public, in littleton, colorado

1/3rd of 2nd grade (never finished 2nd grade properly): lower middle class suburban public, in littleton

3rd-6th grade: working class surburban Lutheran school with urban kids bussed in from detroit

7th-12th grade: working class suburban public, a bit farther west of detroit than before.



I hated all of it except for 4th grade, part of 7th, and 10th.


I plan on living in a city. I'll probably send my kids to public school. unless they're like awful or something. some of the chicago public schools I've subbed at were pretty decent. dunno what'll happen by then though, since it's a good ten years off at least.

[HEIRESS]

Hi my name is cookiepuss and I'm a recovering Catholic School Girl.


ditto

I was the more horrible horrible person I ever was during my catholic elementary school years and I am still recovering from the weird backhanded mental abuse that occured at the hands of others during those years

it also caused me to have an eternal soft spot for cute italian catholic boys with dark curly hair

so yeah...

[Helvete]

Since when have Catholic schools been mixed? Maybe they are, but I always thought not.

[kleptomaniac]

"sub"

[icy manipulator]

city, fortitude valley, spring hill. that's the kind of area you consider to be urban.

anyway, i lived inner city suburb, went to catholic primary schools and an anglican highschool

[HEIRESS]

Since when have Catholic schools been mixed? Maybe they are, but I always thought not.

I dont know of any "all girls" or "all boys" catholic schools in my region

[marsdaddy]

absolutely (y)And yet, kids spend 1/2 of their time awake at school.

I agree, but it's not black and white.

What about you Knuckles? Public or private for the little guy? Urban or suburban?

[M.C. Guevera]

1st Grade-1/2 of 2nd Grade: Catholic School

1/2 2nd Grade-1/2 4th Grade: Public School. 2 of them actually. I didn't like the Catholic school I was in, so my parents moved and I was transferred to a public school where I made absolutely no friends. That sucked, but luckily, my mom got married and I moved with her to upstate New York where I went to another public school in the rich part of town. I made no friends there either because all the kids were snobs. I still like that period in my life, though. My mom got divorced less than a year later, and I ended up going back to the same public school I left before she got married. I had a much better time, and made some friends. I left right after 4th Grade started because my mom trusted the Catholic school better.

1/2 4th Grade-8th Grade: Catholic School: Different one. Had some good times and bad times, but mostly good times.

I WAS home schooled for almost a year. But since 2003, I've been sitting here doing nothin' except moving to Florida, that is. I'm gonna try once again to get my G.E.D. this year. Hopefully.

[marsdaddy]

As a parent, I'm more concerned with making sure my kids are applying themselves than worrying about the actual lesson at hand.Yes, we, as parents have the ultimate responsiblity, and I grew up in the city, and drugs, gangs, and general trouble are at private schools, too. Can I get some cream & sugar with that sanctamoniousness?

Neither you nor I are currently "applying" ourselves as we sit here typing on a message board. Plus, while my experience shapes what I want for my kids, I am gaining the self-awareness to see how things will be different for them. I hope I can help make it better. And one way is to put them in situations that challenge their potential.

And yes, I think they can have that in public schools. But all things being equal, if I had a spare $40K per year, I'd probably send them to a posh private school. So I can justify it all I want, but *BOOM* there it is.